Hay-press



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. A. LAIDLAW.

HAY PRESS.

No. 359,081. Patented Mar. 8, 1887.

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(No Model.) 2.Shee,ts-Sheet 2.

W. A. LAIDLAW.

HAY PRESS.

No. 3591081." Patent-ed Mar. 8, 1887.

wnggfgg I INVHNTOR K L 1 WJWW W BY l I ATTORNEYS.

UNITED Srarns PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLlrXM A. LAIDLA\V, OF CHEROKEE, KANSAS.

HAY-PRESS.

E'aPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,081, datedIVIareh 8, 1887.

Application filed November 1, 1886. Serial No. 217,728. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, \VILLIAM A. LiInLaw, of Cherokee, in the county ofCrawford and State of Kansas, have invented anew and useful Improvementin Hay-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in that class of presses known asperpetual or continuous, and whose followers are operated by areversible sweep, that allows them to be thrown back (by the elasticrebound of the hay or other material being pressed) after reaching theli mitof its forward movement.

The invention is embodied in the construction and combination of parts,as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the'press. Fig.2 is a plan view of a portion of the press, showing another position ofthe sweep and connected movable parts. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinalsection on line x :0, Fig. 2. Fig. 4. is a perspective view of thesweep. Fig. 5 is a side view of the fric tion-rollers detached andenlarged. Fig. 6 is a side view of a portion of the pi-essbox.

The follower or traverscr A works in the' horizontal press-box B, intowhich hay or other material to be baled is introduced through theopening a in its upper side. Said follower is worked by asweep or horselever, (J, by means of a pitnian, D, composed of two parallel barspivoted to the follower as shown, Fig. 1. The sweep vibrates in ahorizontal plane, its head I) beingpivoted between conical platesc c bymeans of a vertical bolt, cl, passing through the center. These plates 0c are secured in horizontal position to and between the frontextensions, 6 c, of the press-box B, and arranged with their apexespointing toward the follower A. Behind the plates 0 c, and parallel totheir conical edges, but separated therefrom by a narrow space, are twosemicircular bars, a 0, whose ends are braced by curved iron straps 0,attached to the plates 0. The inner edges of the bars 0 c are parallelto the opposite edges of plates 0 0. Thus a curved slot is formedbetween the plates 0 and bars 0, the center of which is slightly angularor eccentric to the general curve of the slot. There being two sets ofguides, c and 0, there are consequently two such curved slots, and inthem run flanged friction-rollersf, that work on a vertical bolt or rod,9. Between these friction-rollers is a thirdroller, 71, which turns onthe same rod, g, and works in contact with the edges of the recessedportion of the head I) of the sweep. The rod passes through the forwardends of the pitman-bars D, they being arranged, respectively, above andbelow the central friction-roller, h, and between the flanged jrollersf. The flanges of the latter work on the inner side of theopposite edges of the plates 0 and bars 0.

The recess in the head of the sweep O has a general resemblance to theletter W when formed with curves and no regular angles that is to say,the recess extends backward on each side of the central portion wherethe pivotbolt 9 passes through. There is thus a socket or cavity on eachside, which receives the friction-roller h at each vibration of thesweep. To strengthen and secure the side portions or extensions of thesweephead b, so that they will sustain the strain to which they aresubjected in operating the press, I connect them by an iron strap, 2',which is attached by screws, as shown. Thus constructed the sweep-headcombines lightness and strength in the highest degree, while the rollersgreatly reduce friction.

hen the sweep O is at right angles to the pressbox, as shown in Fig. l,the follower is in rear of the opening a, so that hay may be introduced.Then as the sweep is reversed, or carried around to the position shownin Fig. 2, the follower is pushed forward and the hay forced into thepressbox, and the instant the central friction-roller, 71-, passesbeyond the central point shown in Fig. 2--that is to say, past the angleor center of the curved slotthe elastic pressureof thehay againstthefollo wer forces it backward, and the rollers traverse the slotsuntil arrested by the curved braces c, and the parts are then in theposition shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, and ready to repeat theoperation.

After the follower has been withdrawn from the press-box, thecylindrical roller is drawn down and folds inward the hay which projectsbeneath it. This roller is fixed on a shaft, Z, that is free to work upand down in slots in the sides of the box 13. The ends of the shaft Zpass through lever-arms in, pivoted to the outer sides of the box, andsprings n serve to draw down said arms, and thereby the roller also. Aratchet, 0, is aflixed to the rollershaft, and a pawl, 19, prevents theroller rotating backward when the follower withdraws from thepress-chamber, thus folding inward the hay that projects beneath saidroller.

I am aware that a longitudinally ribbed or grooved roller has beenemployed, the same having been arranged in a hood or cover speciallyconstructed for the purpose.

"What I claim is 1. In a hay-press of the class hereinbefore described,the combination of the curved bars 0 0, arranged as specified, andconical plates 0 0, whereby a curved slot having an eccentric middleportion is formed between them, the

